Dear Families,

It has been wonderful to wander around the school and see how settled all the classes are. They have now enjoyed sessions with all our specialists and together as a class have set their expectations for how they will work and learn together. They have explored our new playground spaces and are having lots of fun in the sandpit and on the rooftop playground. Children who are new to our school have made new friends and have settled into our school routine.

Our Prep children are simply amazing! They have made new friends and are learning their class routines, and even enjoyed their first excursion.

It is such a pleasure to see our children happy and engaged in their learning.

Staff News

Joel Lanza, one of our Learning Support Officers will be taking Leave Without Pay as of Monday 20th February until the end of 2023. Joel is currently studying for a Bachelor of Education and due to changes in his University timetable, he is unable to meet his work commitments at St Michael's. We will certainly miss Joel's presence in our school but look forward to his return in 2024. We wish him every success in his studies.

We are currently interviewing applicants to replace him.

Lisa Hood, our Deputy Principal is unwell and will be on leave for the remainder of the term. We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to her return.

Angela Flint will step up to be our Acting Deputy Principal until Lisa's return.

Our New Agreement - EBA

Over the past year, negotiations have been taking place between MACS and our union, IEU, to negotiate our new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). One of the outcomes is that teachers will be eligible to receive time in lieu if directed to participate in activities outside of school hours. The implication of this is that outside of hours events such as our upcoming school picnic will be affected or staff may not be present at them. We will endeavour to continue to hold our school community events as we have in the past but there may be some adjustments needed to put in place.

Teacher workloads have been a major component of the new EBA. At this stage, we have not been required to reduce school hours as some schools have had to do but I will be attending further briefing sessions to ensure our school meets the requirements of the EBA.

I will keep you informed when further information is available. I thank you in advance for your understanding.

Student News

At our Beginning of the School year Liturgy on Monday we welcomed our new Student Leaders. Please go to the I Spy page to meet our new leaders.

Ash Wednesday

Next week, we celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, an important time of fasting and preparation for Easter.

Lent is a time of repentance, or turning back to God so we can prepare for Easter. Lots of customs and practices are associated with this time of the year. For Christians: receiving the ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, fasting and eating simpler foods, extra time given to prayer, extra focus on generosity and giving to others (Project Compassion). In the Church, flowers and decorations are put aside and the altar cloths are changed to purple. Perhaps during Lent, we can focus on being hopeful, that we can prepare ourselves for the Resurrection of Jesus, but hope for a peaceful and just world.

On Ash Wednesday, our children in Years 3-6 will be attending mass at 9.15am and our Prep - Year 2 children will be participating in a liturgy at 1.30pm.

We welcome and encourage families to join us at either of these celebrations.

Prep Enrolment 2024

We have already had a considerable number of enrolment inquiries for Prep in 2024!

New Families: Prep 2024 enrolments open on March 14 and close on May 31. Our school Open Day for new families will take place on Tuesday, March 14.
Existing Families: Please download the enrolment form from the website or collect an enrolment form from the office. You can do this at any time but please do this as soon as possible.

If you know of families wanting to attend St Michael's in 2024, please share this information with them and encourage them to book a school tour.

School Fees

School fees were sent home to families and included our School Fee Policy, Concessional School Fees Policy, and direct debit information. The school is reliant on all parents paying their school fees in full to enable us to meet our financial commitments, so it is essential that all school fees are paid in full by the required date.

Families who have a Health Care Card can make an appointment to discuss their access to our concessional fee program.

Parents Teachers and Friends Association

Our Parents, Teachers and Friends Association plays an important role at St Michael’s. It is a voluntary group of parents and staff who plan various activities or events to support our school to enhance a sense of community as well as improve the resources our children need to enhance their learning.

In previous years the PTFA has organised mothers and fathers day stalls, school discos, fundraisers such as cookie dough or the colour run, as well as special lunch days.

Members of the PTFA do not organise every event as it is shared amongst the committee.

It is a great way to contribute to St Michael’s as well as an opportunity to meet other parents at our school.

Our first meeting will be happening 8:45am on Tuesday, 21st February. We would love to see you come along and join us for a cuppa to learn more about our PTFA.

St Michael's School Advisory Council

Our first School Advisory Council meeting for 2023 is on Wednesday 1st March, 7:00pm.

This will be our Annual General Meeting so all parents/carers are welcome to come along

Class Dojo

Thank you to all families who have joined and are following their child's learning via Class Dojo. Teachers put many events and time into their Class Dojo posts and they really appreciate your likes but especially your comments, so I ask you to take a minute or two to respond to these posts that celebrate the learning your child is engaging in.

Denise Hussey

(Principal)

'The most simple thing I can do is to be good today but better tomorrow'

Catherine McAuley - Mercy Sisters Foundress

All students attending St Michael's Primary School have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.

Learning News

1D